Burn
by MiyuTanemura
Summary: Some missions take more from Gray than others. It's good to come back home, and even more to have Natsu there for him. Natsu/Gray


Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

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 **Burn**

Gray stumbled inside his home, the door closing behind him with a noisy sound that echoed in the too silent house. He leaned against the wood and let out a sigh, closing his eyes.

Leaning against it for a few moments, as his body was feeling too drained and in no condition to take more than a few steps at a time, Gray let himself be. When he found that he had restored some of his strength, Gray straightened up and stepped further inside his house. The orangish light that bathed the room seemed to make his eyes hurt, everything suddenly in too stark relief. The bag he had slung over his shoulder fell to the ground with a hollow _thud_. A relieved exhale left his lips. Gray leaned against the padded chair and for a little more, let it take his weight. He was tired, overwhelmingly so.

It had been a tough mission and despite having had the first aid already administered on site, he was hurting. It wasn't only the bruises, there were also some cuts (though the accurate way to call it might be stabs) and the worst were the burns. And the fact that he was feeling completely drained didn't help matters.

For one moment Gray thought about being pissed at the people that had asked for the mission in the first place, and those who had assembled the info – so badly. But, now what was done was done and Gray had returned home, safe – even if a bit bruised. He was alive.

And in need of a much-deserved shower. He positively reeked.

But should he take a shower, in his condition? Well, he was nearly asleep on his feet.

No. He wouldn't feel well with himself if he didn't clean off the disgusting feeling, the sweat, blood and dirt from his skin.

With another sigh, Gray shook his head, making himself awake a little and start to disrobe. And he couldn't help but take in the irony. He, who sometimes didn't notice taking off his clothes, now was having such a hard time with taking them of. It wasn't his fault that his limbs were heavy, they felt like they weighted a ton, unmanageable to move – even the fabric seemed to have changed into something heavier, his fingers feeling too numb and clumsy on the clothes. Finally, the shirt fell away, the belt following it not long after and thankfully the weight of the clothes made the trousers fall nearly on their own. His boots had been kicked mindlessly somewhere behind himself and Gray started heading towards the bathroom, steps uneven.

The tiles reflected the light and so did his movements, blurry images on the glassy surfaces. Gray finally got rid of the last piece of clothing, standing stark naked on the cold room. The coldness was welcoming to him but at the same time it felt too much. Looking down Gray took in the bandage that was wrapped around his chest, the worst of the stabs had come too close to comfort, piercing him on his left side – thankfully it had been taken care of moments after but it had hurt like hell, blood falling in red gusts from him. The dry red was still staining his skin and that was one of the reasons why he needed to bathe. Not that he was squeamish or anything, Gray had seen quite a number of gruesome things in his life already but he didn't overly like to have the reminders etched on his skin if he didn't have to. It brought back the bad feelings, a phantom brush with a past best forgotten.

Stepping inside the tub, Gray opened the faucet, watery noises filling the otherwise silent room. Gray didn't need much of a temperature for the water but now he did feel like he needed some heat. Finally, the water started falling from the showerhead, soaking the ice mage.

Gray let his head rest against the wall and just breathed as the water cascaded down his body, soaking the bandage but he didn't mind. Not yet.

His right bicep hurt. He had a burn in it, on the inside of his arm. And it stung.

When he finally pushed back, tilting his head back and let the water wash away his thoughts.

It didn't work all that well.

Gray turned off the water and turned around, looking for the bathing implements. Half blindingly he found the shampoo. He lathered his head with it, a cool peppermint scent he favoured spreading out, and opened the water again in a hurry as some of the foam tried to slide into his eyes. He quickly rinsed his hair.

And then he turned back for the soap.

But he didn't see any soap. For one or two instants he stood on his tub staring blankly at where the bathing implements were, at the small soap dish. His soap wasn't there. Where might it…?

Then he remembered what had happened. Natsu… the fire mage had been goofing around on the last time he'd been at his house and had stolen the soap, just to prove a point – Gray couldn't remember which point that was but he just didn't have the mental acuity to be bothered by it either – and that left Gray without soap. There was only the pomegranate shower gel that Lucy had left in his house, arguing that it was only fair that she also had things for her in their houses, given the amount of time they spent at each other's houses – and quite a lot of it being at her's.

Gray flipped the lid on the bottle and instantly the scent hit his nostrils, the sweetness a welcomed change to the dirt/blood/smoke that had been in them. He let some of the slippery gel fall onto his outstretched palm, the red glossy colour seeming like blood for one or two instants before he gathered himself and started soaping his body. He was extremely careful with the burn on his arm but it still stung. Absentmindedly Gray decided that he ought to cover the burn with a bandage. And then there was the bandage over his torso. He had to do something over it, maybe peel the soaked fabric and do a cursory clean-up over the less damaged areas. The places where he had been healed were closed and clean but it didn't mean that they were less tender. The no longer so dried blood that caked the lower side of his abdomen was starting to wash out with the water, some of the darker tone against his skin washing out. It was with determined movements that he scrubbed himself clean, consciously not thinking about anything else but getting himself clean.

His hair was plastered to his face, making him having to shake his head one or two times to get the hair from his eyes.

The shower was having an effect on Gray.

Being clean was making him dissociate from the events from before, separating him from what had already happened. Now he deserved some downtime. Time to gather his thoughts and recover.

Maybe have Natsu over.

If the fire mage had already returned from wherever he had gone to. They had left at approximately the same time but strangely that had been a lot of bustle by the time they had gone so they only managed to exchange a few words.

One never knew what might happen in a mission but Gray was convinced that they would both be stubborn enough to return.

Those thoughts made Gray smile as he finished his shower, a distracted mind making everything go faster as the body moved with muscle memory.

Gray shut the faucet, the final drops of water falling on the porcelain and echoing eerily in the bathroom. But Gray didn't even notice that, his eyes already trying to half-shut as he stepped outside and grabbed a fluffy towel, curling it around himself.

Gray grabbed his first-aid kit and placed it on top of the sink. He was about to open it but he heard a noise coming from the living room and turned towards the door.

Slowly, Gray headed to the door, turning the handle slowly and opening a sliver. When he saw what – or most accurately, _who_ – was on the other side, he yanked the door open and stepped outside.

For Natsu was there, sitting on his sofa, splayed out. He seemed tired but not worse for the wear, just ready to fall into bed and sleep like a log.

Until the sun rose, of course.

Because Natsu was just like that, he rose with the sun, Gray couldn't help but muse fondly.

"I didn't expect you here already." Gray finally said, breaking the silence of the room. Not that it was uncomfortable.

"Neither did I. we managed to take care of things earlier. And how about you?" Natsu countered, sitting up and beckoning at Gray with a hand.

"Me?" Gray walked towards the fire mage and sat heavily. "I'm tired." He leaned back and closed his eyes.

"And not in all that good condition. You just got home?" he asked.

"Mhm…" Gray nodded, his eyes still closed.

"That must have been quite a mission. I saw the state of your clothes." He smirked as he glanced at the clothes strewn across the floor. "It was rough, huh?"

"Don't mention it." Gray pushed his hair from his eyes before something clicked in his brain. "Wait. You haven't just arrived, have you?" he looked at Natsu.

"No. We arrived a couple of hours ago. I came to check if you were here earlier. But then I heard that you'd returned and came here."

"So you knew that I'd be here." Gray nodded.

"Well, yeah. That and I heard some of the guys you went out with say that you were a bit banged up. Thought you might need a hand patching up?" Natsu finished with an uncertain tone. "Things were slightly strange when we parted."

"Oh, don't mention that. Okay, you win the soap contest and are the _bestest winnerst_ of ever, see if I care." Gray grumbled as he furrowed his brows and waved a nonchalant hand at the other.

"You do know that those aren't real words, right?" Natsu teased.

One of Gray's eyes opened a sliver, not having the desired effect because he made the ice mage look cute, instead of giving the glare of doom that was intended.

"Shut. Up." He ground out.

Natsu just rolled his eyes and grinned. Then he looked up, the bathroom door wide open and the first-aid kit on top of the sink.

"Well then, let's get the patching up bit done with, okay?" Natsu asked but didn't wait for a reply before slapping his hands on his knees and standing, hurrying to grab the kit and returning to Gray.

He placed it on the place he had just vacated and came to kneel between Gray's stretched legs.

"Come on. No falling asleep now. Sit up." He cajoled.

Gray obeyed the commands slowly and with grumbles.

Neither said a word about how compliant he was being. They never did.

Natsu pushed the towel open, seeing the expanse of moist skin but his eyes zeroed in on the red gashes that marred the skin, taking in the red first but then starting to notice the dark areas of the bruising. And then he noticed something else.

It was foreign to him.

In this person.

On this skin.

It had no place in it.

Natsu frowned as he extended his hand to hover above the hand-like burn that was in the middle of Gray's torso. On the corner of his eye he also noticed the burn on the inside of his arm and a low growl escaped his throat. And having what looked like a deep scratch wasn't doing anything to calm Natsu either.

Gray heard the noises and opened his eyes. He yawned and then leaned forward slightly.

He stretched his arm, hands coming to cradle Natsu's face.

"It's over." He said, looking straight into Natsu's eyes. "Over and has been dealt with." His left hand slid down to rest on Natsu's shoulder. "Okay?"

Natsu growled once again and seemed to want to punch something but he nodded stiffly before grabbing both of Gray's hands and squeezing them.

"Okay." He answered gravely. "Now let's take care of that, then." And then he busied himself with gathering the necessary things to patch Gray up.

It wasn't the first time and wouldn't be the last that they would do this. Their understanding had grown and become stronger through the years.

And yes, they might fight and be rivals for all they cared, but some of the time that was just for show, a way to vent. Everybody at the guild knew that they were together. And it was okay. It was okay to rely on someone and have the deep connection.

With sure and quick movements Natsu applied the burns ointment and bandaged them, lathering the bruises and cuts with the healing salve that was their long 'acquaintance'.

And so it didn't take long to take care of Gray. He helped drying the rest of the ice mage and then made Gray stand, so that they could head to the bedroom. Natsu's own tiredness already catching up after that burst of adrenaline that he had used to help Gray.

They walked to the bedroom in slow steps, the darkness of the room a balm to their bodies that were demanding rest.

Natsu pushed back the flimsy bedsheet and Gray sat on the bed, a pleased noise emerging from him. Natsu hurried back to the living room to make sure that the door was closed and turn off the lights. Then he hurried to answer the beckon of sleep.

The fire mage quickly shed his clothes as he walked, and sat on the bed before letting himself fall back.

The sheet was pulled to cover the two mages – not that it was necessary – and they finally fell into a well-deserved rest. Curled around each other, where they belonged.

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 **A/N:** So this fic had been bothering me for over two weeks. It was niggling at the back of my mind but somehow, didn't seem to want to be written. So it was written during the course of three word wars with this super nice group of people. Apparently this is good news because this way the bunnies will start getting out much faster. I'm quite pleased with it. ^^

As for the fic… I don't know. The purpose was to write fluff but here we are and once again it's proven that I really can't write fluff. Many apologies. *bows*

Unbetaed with a dash of being slightly displeased with how it came out.

But, hey, hopefully you, readers, will like it.

Feedback would be nice, as per usual.


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